Kissing her husband Josh one more time, Jessica raced out in the rain to her waiting taxi. It had been raining for days. She had mixed emotions about leaving yet again. She loved the travel and meeting new people but hated leaving the love of her life for days at a time as frequently as she did.
Three hours later her plane touched down. It was an uneventful flight and she managed to get caught up on the presentation she would be doing later in the day. Stepping out of Bush International, she was set back by the heat and humidity. What a contrast from home would be an understatement.
It was her first time in Texas and it showed. As the limousine drove through a maze of skyscrapers and clover leafs her head spun back and forth taking it all in. The cool air conditioning of the limo was a relief from the humid temperatures outside.
"Your first time in Houston Ma'am?" The driver's eyes met hers in the rear view mirror.
"Is it that obvious?" Jessica chuckled to herself.
It took about an hour and they pulled up in front of her hotel. The driver quickly jumped out and opened her door as she got out. He handed her overnight bag to her as she passed the driver a folded bill for a tip.
"Gracias Amiga!" His smile was warm and broad
"De Nada." She was proud to spit out the only other Spanish word she knew.
Her hotel room was quite typical of any business class room. Looking around she took in the view of the city before testing out the pillows on the queen sized bed. Eventually she unpacked her bag and realized immediately that she should have brought more clothes. She could not have imagined the humidity which would result in changing clothes more frequently than planned.
After a quick check of her makeup and hair, she straightened her dress out on her body before heading back out the door. To her surprise, the limo driver was still there.
Giving him the address of her client's office, they pulled back in to the traffic.
"I'm Jorge." His smiling eyes met hers in the mirror
"Jessica. Nice to meet you Jorge." she smiled back in the mirror.
After paying the fare and stepping out into the humid air, Jorge handed her a business card.
"If you need to get anywhere, you call Jorge and I will take you okay?" His big smile was comforting.
"Of course Jorge! Thank you." She quickly put the card in her purse.
As she walked in to the building Jorge watched petite frame sway gently. He couldn't make out any lines through her tight black dress and wondered if she had panties on at all. He had a contract with Energex and was quite used to bringing people here, but never anyone so young and attractive.
The afternoon was quite typical; she introduced herself and her colleagues to the room before doing her presentation. She had met a couple of the gentleman in the room on a previous visit, but there were new faces in the room too.
As the meeting came to a close, the conversation about where to go for dinner came up. It was quite customary for vendors to take their clients out. Even more so, it was expected and actually part of her job. Her clients suggested a steak place nearby and they would meet there in an hour.
After some consideration, Jessica realized it would not be worth her while to go back to her hotel room first and decided to sit in the lobby and catch up on her emails. She wasn't there long when a voice interrupted her.
"You could have stayed up in the room with us you know?" His words had a slow southern draw to them.
Standing up quickly she put on her best smile for the vice president of Energex, "I didn't want to be a bother. I figured I would get caught up before dinner."
"I was thinking about heading over early and getting a drink. Interested?" He gave a questioning look.
"Absolutely!" She grabbed her purse and followed him to his car.
Sitting in the booth they talked about everything from his wife and kids to her honeymoon. Developing rapport with this man was super important if she was going to make any sales in this company. Sipping her wine she sized him up. He was about six feet tall and looked like he was probably a football player in his younger years. She guessed he was about twenty years older than her based on some of their previous conversation. All in all, he seemed like a nice man but made it very clear that he was in charge.
Eventually her colleagues showed up and the rest of the clients. Drinks moved to a dinner table for 8 where meals were eaten and more drinks were had. Slowly people started to excuse themselves and make their way home until it was just Jack and her again.
"Can I give you a ride back to your hotel Jessica?" He asked.
"Oh I'm fine, I will just grab a cab. I'm sure you want to be getting home." She smiled as she stood grabbing her purse.
